Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on May 9 sought a response from the apex food body, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), and the states regarding milk adulteration and production of synthetic milk.The three-judge bench sought their response on the public interest petition filed by Swami Achyutanand Tirth on behalf of the Swami Bhumanand Dharmarth Chikitsalya & Research Institute in Haridwar.

The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to submit a disposal plan for the raw material used to manufacture endosulfan, Hexachlorocyclopentadiene (HCCP), an organochlorine compound. It is used in several pesticides.

Pesticide manufacturers are leaving no stone unturned to get a clean chit for endosulfan. The Supreme Court had banned the sale, manufacture, use and export of the pesticide on May 13 this year. The pesticide makers have submitted a counter affidavit in the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has allowed the exports of 1090.596 MT of technical grade endosulfan for which export orders were received prior to the ban on May 13. But it has reiterated its earlier order, banning the use, sale and production of the pesticide.

Sustainable mining is an oxymoron. Environmentalists will tell you this. Mining—coal to limestone—takes away forests, devastates mountains and leaves the land pockmarked. It also destroys livelihoods of people and displaces them. Worse, modern, mechanised mining takes away livelihood based on land but does not replace it with local employment—all estimates show that direct employment in the mining sector has fallen sharply. It provides wealth, but not for local development.

The Pesticides Manufactures and Formulators Association of India (PMFAI) continues to be in denial on the role the pesticide had on the health of the people in Kasaragod. In a reply affidavit filed by the association, they have cited iodine deficiency, radiation and genetic inbreeding, as the cause for the health problems in the district.